


Out of Time

by Rose_of_Pollux



Series: Inktober for Writers 2018: Hurt/Comfort edition [5]
Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 04:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16298375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: Part 1 of 3; The aftermath of a mission gone wrong





	Out of Time

Illya groaned as he awakened, blinking as he found himself in a pile of rubble that had once been a THRUSH facility. What had happened? Ah, yes, that’s right—they had set the hideout to self-destruct, and Illya had been desperately trying to disable the computer-controlled charges so that he and Napoleon could collect the evidence…

 _Napoleon_!

His eyes shot open. Napoleon had been with him, only feet away when time had run out and the charges had detonated, bringing the building down on top of them. And now…

Illya forced himself to sit up, his heart in his throat as he looked around and saw nothing but piles and piles of rubble.

“No…” he choked out. “Napoleon! _Napoleon_!”

Everything was coming back him now; his terrified cry that they had run out of time, the entire place shaking from the charges going off, and Napoleon… Napoleon running to him instead of trying to run away and save himself…

“ _NAPOLEON_!”

Illya’s voice broke into a coughing fit from all of the dust. Taking a moment to think, he used his communicator to call Napoleon’s. He could hear the communicator’s whistle, as he had hoped, taking it as a good sign that it was still intact and working—but it chilled him to realize that it was coming from beneath a large pile of rubble.

Illya struggled to move some of the pieces; to his dismay, it became clear that part of the wall had fallen on his partner; for all of his efforts, he was only able to reach his partner’s hand—and received no response after grasping it.

“Napoleon!” he cried, placing his fingers on Napoleon’s wrist. For what seemed like an eternity, he searched for a pulse before finally finding one. “Napoleon, please wake up!”

He tried to dig further, but stopped in horror as the pile of rubble shifted and threatned to collapse futher. He couldn’t dare try anything further; Napoleon had survived due to ending up in an air bubble—if that collapsed, he was done for.

He hit the distress signal on his tracker and proceeded to do the only thing he could do—gently rub Napoleon’s wrist and talk to him, trying to get him to revive.

After what seemed like another eternity, he heard a groan.

“Napoleon!?” he asked, daring to hope.

“Ugh… what happened…?” Napoleon groaned. “Where am I…? Illya…?”

“I am here, Napoleon! The THRUSH hideout collapsed when the charges went off—I wasn’t able to stop them…”

“Are you alright!?”

Illya swallowed the lump in his throat. Napoleon was the one trapped, and yet, he was more concerned about him?

“I am fine, but you are trapped. Can you try and see if you can slip out?”

Napoleon groaned again, and then cried out.

“Napoleon!?”

“I can’t…! My leg…! I can’t move my leg…!”

Illya shut his eyes.

“…Are you pinned by the wall…?”

“I… I think so…”

Illya cursed himself multiple times over. His partner was injured and trapped, and there was nothing he could to do help him—his failures had been the cause of this!

“I have already summoned help,” Illya said, quietly. “You will be out soon.”

“…Don’t go,” Napoleon pleaded, quietly.

Illya gripped his hand tightly.

“I would never,” he promised.

He would stay—of course. And after Napoleon was extracted, he would find some way to make it up to him.


End file.
